Team:Groningen/publicsafety

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<z1 >Public safety</z1><br>
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<z1>Public Safety</z1>
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During our project discussions and our presentations it became clear that the close proximity of the meat
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and bacteria was not easily accepted by the public. That is why we decided to take extra care in designing
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the indication sticker. We made absolutely sure there was no possibility that our <i>Bacillus</i> or its
 +
spores were able to come into contact with the environment or the preserved meat, possibly endangering the
 +
public and environment.
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<br>
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<br>
 +
We consulted specialized companies for participation and contribution to our project using their knowledge of materials.
 +
As a result, we decided to use TPX® Polymethylpentene as the sticker's outer membrane. It is a strong polymer with
 +
nanopores of around 0.5 um diameter. These nanopores ensure that no bacteria will come into contact with the meat,
 +
but still allow the volatiles to reach the bacteria. This material is approved by FDA-standards and EU-food-standards.
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
Not only does the sticker design ensure the safety of the public, the nutrient composition does as well.
 +
<i>Bacillus subtilis</i> should only germinate and grow when the sticker is still intact. However, even if our <i>Bacillus</i>
 +
is exposed to an environment that is favorable for growth, the genetic modified insert is not harmful for humans, animals
 +
or the environment. Furthermore, the strain used in our final product is considered a food-grade strain. More on the safety
 +
aspect of the GMO is found on the environmental safety page.
 +
<br>
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<br>
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With proper use of the Food Warden system none of the <i>B. subtilis</i> cells are released.
 +
In that case, there will be no danger to the public.
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<br>
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<br>
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<z5>Public perception</z5>
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<br>
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<br>
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For a better perception of the public view on our project we asked the science shop of our university for advice.
 +
The University of Groningen actively seeks cooperation with citizens, governments and business. The goal is to
 +
deploy academic expertise for the benefit of nonprofit groups and organizations which represent a public interest,
 +
and to contribute to practice based education, social engagement and the acquisition of communication skills by students.
 +
Five different science shops are linked to the RUG, one for each of the major faculties. All cover a different aspect
 +
of science namely: Beta (exact/natural sciences), culture, language & communication, business and economy, education,
 +
medicine and healthcare.  We chose to contact the beta science shop as they cover the field of life science.
 +
<br>
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<br>
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Firstly, they suggested we contact the voedsel en waren authoriteit (translated: Netherlands Food and Consumer Product
 +
Safety Authority) of the Dutch government. For more information on this, check our food safety page.
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
Second, they pointed out that we must formulate a development plan if we want to make Food Warden a product for the public.
 +
A thorough and detailed description of product development and usage is important for public perception and for the consumer.
 +
GMOs are not easily accepted by the public, so we need to show that the product is safe and beneficial to society. 
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
We are in the process of making a market-research section on our wiki page in which we will ask the public audience
 +
to give us their opinions on various aspects of the Food Warden system. The research should provide insight into the
 +
questions of acceptance of GMOs for household use, the desirability of the Food Warden system, and the effect of such
 +
a product on the prevention of food spoilage.
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
We believe that our product has an ethical foundation: the reduction of food waste. With the use of synthetic biology
 +
we provide an innovative way to prevent the waste of food. We also want help change the public opinion on GMOs and
 +
show that this field of science can be beneficial for society. In times of rising food costs and famine we hope that
 +
we can make a small contribution in the effort to solve these problems worldwide.
 +
<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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During our project discussions and our presentations to the public, it became clear that the association of meat and bacteria being close to each other, is not easily accepted. That’s why decided to take extra care when we designed our indication sticker, to be absolutely sure there is no possibility that our Bacillus or its spores are able to come in the environment or on the preserved meat, possibly endangering the public and environment.
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<br>
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<br>
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We consulted specialized companies to participate and contribute in our project using their knowledge of materials. A good idea for preventing introduction of GMO’s into the environment, is the use of nano pores. The material for this “sticker” is TPX® Polymethylpentene, a strong polymer that is will ensure no bacteria will not come in contact with the meat, but still allows the volatiles to reach the bacteria. This material is approved by FDA-standards and EU-food-standards.
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<br>
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<br>
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But not only the sticker design ensures the safety of the public, also the nutrient composition in the sticker ensures Bacillus will only germinate and grow when the sticker is still intact. And even when our Bacillus is exposed to an environment that is favorable for growth, the production of the pigment will ensure that the bacterium kills itself, because the pigment is toxic for Bacillus. Further the strain we will use in our final product is considered a food-grade strain. The genetic modification done to this strain only consist of adding of a plasmid containing promoter regions from the genome of ''B. subtilis'' and parts from other biobricks that were found to have no dangerous effects for humans.
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The find out more on the effect of our product on the public we want to contact the voedsel en waren authoriteit of the Dutch government.
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<FONT COLOR=#ff6700><b>BioBricks</b></FONT><br><br>
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We did not find  urgent  safety  issues with our biobricks. The promoters were taken from the genome of B.subtilis 168 and are natural gene parts. Furthermore the other parts of our biobricks are parts taken from the biobricks in the registry. Also final product does not contain an antibiotic resistance marker. 
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<FONT COLOR=#ff6700><b>Biosafety group</b></FONT><br><br>
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Every research facility has staff responsible for the safety of the labs where people work with GMO. The Rijksuniveriteit of Groningen is no exception. There are four  biological safety officers each charged with a different aspects of safety (Site manager, Microorganisms, ecology and plants, animal safety) We invited Dr. Juke Lolkema, the safety officer in charge the safety in working with microorganisms, to give a lecture about GMOs and safety in the lab. Dr. Lolkema is responsible for the maintenance of safe microbial techniques in the whole life science building (Linneausborg). During this lecture we asked about the safety aspects of our project. He raised an issue we needed to address: how to kill the bacteria after use? The pigment product was observed to be toxic for certain bacteria we need to test whether is this the case for B. subtilis nato. If so the pigment will serve as a kill switch and kills the bacteria after use.  If the pigment does not have a toxic effect on this strain of B. subtilis, we want to incorporate a kill switch in the plasmid that is activated after pigment production. In either case after pigment production the bacteria will be killed.
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Latest revision as of 21:09, 26 September 2012





Public Safety


During our project discussions and our presentations it became clear that the close proximity of the meat and bacteria was not easily accepted by the public. That is why we decided to take extra care in designing the indication sticker. We made absolutely sure there was no possibility that our Bacillus or its spores were able to come into contact with the environment or the preserved meat, possibly endangering the public and environment.

We consulted specialized companies for participation and contribution to our project using their knowledge of materials. As a result, we decided to use TPX® Polymethylpentene as the sticker's outer membrane. It is a strong polymer with nanopores of around 0.5 um diameter. These nanopores ensure that no bacteria will come into contact with the meat, but still allow the volatiles to reach the bacteria. This material is approved by FDA-standards and EU-food-standards.

Not only does the sticker design ensure the safety of the public, the nutrient composition does as well. Bacillus subtilis should only germinate and grow when the sticker is still intact. However, even if our Bacillus is exposed to an environment that is favorable for growth, the genetic modified insert is not harmful for humans, animals or the environment. Furthermore, the strain used in our final product is considered a food-grade strain. More on the safety aspect of the GMO is found on the environmental safety page.

With proper use of the Food Warden system none of the B. subtilis cells are released. In that case, there will be no danger to the public.

Public perception

For a better perception of the public view on our project we asked the science shop of our university for advice. The University of Groningen actively seeks cooperation with citizens, governments and business. The goal is to deploy academic expertise for the benefit of nonprofit groups and organizations which represent a public interest, and to contribute to practice based education, social engagement and the acquisition of communication skills by students. Five different science shops are linked to the RUG, one for each of the major faculties. All cover a different aspect of science namely: Beta (exact/natural sciences), culture, language & communication, business and economy, education, medicine and healthcare. We chose to contact the beta science shop as they cover the field of life science.

Firstly, they suggested we contact the voedsel en waren authoriteit (translated: Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) of the Dutch government. For more information on this, check our food safety page.

Second, they pointed out that we must formulate a development plan if we want to make Food Warden a product for the public. A thorough and detailed description of product development and usage is important for public perception and for the consumer. GMOs are not easily accepted by the public, so we need to show that the product is safe and beneficial to society.

We are in the process of making a market-research section on our wiki page in which we will ask the public audience to give us their opinions on various aspects of the Food Warden system. The research should provide insight into the questions of acceptance of GMOs for household use, the desirability of the Food Warden system, and the effect of such a product on the prevention of food spoilage.

We believe that our product has an ethical foundation: the reduction of food waste. With the use of synthetic biology we provide an innovative way to prevent the waste of food. We also want help change the public opinion on GMOs and show that this field of science can be beneficial for society. In times of rising food costs and famine we hope that we can make a small contribution in the effort to solve these problems worldwide.



Our sponsors:

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